Respect breeds that
kind of loyalty. It comes in many forms, including respect for the fact
that crew need space to do their work. Even the best crew won’t
last long with owners who await the boat’s arrival at the dock
after a long passage and expect to begin cruising immediately, with
no time to provision. The same goes for owners who insist on half-day
turnarounds between charter bookings and private use. Good crew will
meet such demands but quickly burn out.

While some crew do
take advantage of owners—and don’t last long—good employees
regularly work 16 or 18 hours a day, out of the same respect they feel
owners have shown them. “I’ve had crew that bleed for the
boat,” Simcox says. “I’ve had crew break bones and finish
a 14-day charter and not say a word when they probably should’ve
gone to the hospital, but because of their ties to the owner, they don’t
make a big deal about it.”

To forge such ties
yourself, make keeping good crew your job, one you can always strive
to do better. A longtime owner who has an excellent reputation for keeping
good crew says the most critical step is taking the selection process
seriously. He seeks out qualified candidates, checks multiple references
thoroughly (references can be chatty about yachties with a history in
the business), and spends at least two meetings getting to know crew
before hiring them. After he brings a new employee aboard, he begins
establishing the lines of respect, appreciation, and trust.

And it’s not
enough to assemble the right team, he explains; owners must work hard
at being the team leader. “It’s all about maintaining good
relationships, making clear what has to be done,” he says. “It’s
a management job, and you have to do it in an effective way. If you’re
a real son of a bitch, barking orders all the time, you’ll probably
lose them.” It’s admittedly a hard job, he continues—crew
need to be respected as human beings with needs, such as vacation days
that conflict with your calendar. “There are many times you are
asked to give way to the crew’s requests, and every now and then
you have to do it.”

Showing appreciation
is also key. As with any employee, crew are more likely to remain loyal
if the boss goes beyond the basics of paying good salaries and allowing
time off. Young’s boss recently developed a passion for Harley
Davidson motorcycles and bought two—one for himself, and one for
Young to ride. Simcox’s former boss once arranged for him and his
crew to do laps in a NASCAR Legend car as a reward for good, longtime
service.